Right here Comes the Infinity Practice

After 3 years of anticipation, the long-awaited Gravity (or Infinity) locomotive has arrived within the Pilbara in Western Australia to be put to work transporting iron ore to the coast for cargo to China. That is a part of Dr Andrew Forrest’s goal of reaching actual zero throughout all of the operations of his mining empire. 

Who’s Twiggy Forrest? As one in every of our readers defined: “He’s a mining magnate Zillionaire who’s now a born-again Renewable Vitality advocate. He first aimed for inexperienced hydrogen, however now realises that H2 will not be the holy grail of RE. In the meantime he’s pushing on with different RE tasks too.” And one other backed him up: “And he’s the true deal. Tells it like it’s. Fossil Fuels are harmful and need to go … Western Australia has superb photo voltaic sources and being 3 occasions the scale of Texas with 1/ninth the inhabitants, much less NIMBY points. It additionally has extra kangaroos and only a few of them put on MAGA hats.”

The Fb Pilbara Railways group is circulating images of Fortescue’s Zero Battery Electrical Locomotive (BEL) being delivered in Western Australia. That is Fortescue Zero locomotive 001 on the Roy Hill overpass, June 14, 2025. They inform me that the BEL locomotive is a collaboration between Fortescue Future Industries (FFI) and Downer Group.

The gravity locomotive was “transformed from the GE constructed 9-44CW unit from August 1998 with serial quantity #50708, and was BNSF 4854, GECX 4854, bought to Fortescue Metals Group and will have been numbered 022, despatched to Gemco Perth, November 2022. Delivered to FMG Thomas Yard June 2025. That is the first battery locomotive to reach within the Pilbara.” It’s being transported on a Mammoet modular trailer with 144 wheels.

The speculation is that the loaded BEL will generate sufficient electrical energy touring downhill from the mine to the port to allow it to return empty. Regen on steroids! Free energy, diminished diesel dependence. You possibly can watch the video from Downer right here:

Downer tells us that they’re aiming for the world’s most power environment friendly BEL, “delivering an progressive zero emissions resolution for heavy haul rail, marking an essential step ahead to the commercialisation of zero emissions energy system applied sciences in heavy business purposes.” Fortescue and Downer are demonstrating Australia’s dedication and functionality to contribute to decarbonisation within the heavy transport space globally. This reduces the variety of hard-to-decarbonise business sectors and additional reduces the purposes for inexperienced hydrogen. Downer has 150 years of rolling inventory and locomotive building expertise. It’s enthusiastic about taking a task in a zero-emissions future.

One of many steps in direction of the beginning of the Infinity Practice was the acquisition of Williams Superior Engineering — again in 2022. The plan was to create a locomotive that produced as a lot electrical energy because it used: “The regenerating battery electrical iron ore prepare mission will use gravitational power to completely recharge its battery electrical techniques with none extra charging necessities for the return journey to reload.”

“The Infinity Practice won’t solely speed up Fortescue’s race to achieve internet zero emissions by 2030, but additionally decrease our working prices, create upkeep efficiencies and productiveness alternatives,” Fortescue Founder and Chairman Dr Andrew Forrest AO stated.

“The Infinity Practice will be a part of Fortescue’s inexperienced fleet underneath improvement and can contribute to Fortescue turning into a significant participant within the rising world marketplace for inexperienced industrial transport tools, offering nice worth for our shareholders.

“The business alternatives are apparent for FFI because it pioneers this know-how, captures its worth and distributes it globally. Much less apparent, is that we have now a possibility to not solely decrease our working prices, eradicate the price of diesel from our firm however after all eradicate our rail system carbon emissions.

“The Infinity Practice continues FFI’s inexorable march to alter the world’s perspective to power technology. To maneuver enterprise leaders and politicians globally to the realisation that fossil gasoline is only one supply of power and there are others now, like gravitational power, quickly rising, that are extra environment friendly, decrease price and inexperienced. The world should, and clearly can, transfer on from its extremely polluting, lethal if not stopped epoch of fossil gasoline,” Forrest stated.

The corporate provides: “Fortescue’s present rail operations embrace 54 working locomotives that haul 16 prepare units, along with different on-track cellular tools. Every prepare set is about 2.8 kilometres in size and has the capability to haul 34,404 tonnes of iron ore in 244 ore vehicles. Fortescue’s rail operations consumed 82 million litres of diesel in monetary yr 2021 accounting for 11 per cent of Fortescue’s Scope 1 emissions. This diesel consumption and related emissions will probably be eradicated as soon as the Infinity Practice is totally carried out throughout Fortescue’s operations, considerably contributing to Fortescue’s goal to be diesel free by 2030.” 

CleanTechnica reported on the announcement of the Infinity Practice again in 2022. It sounded fantastical again then, not a lot now. Andrew Forrest has the cash, the know-how, the dedication, and the beliefs to make these items occur. CleanTechnica’s Tina Casey acquired some attention-grabbing feedback: “The Fortescue infinity prepare sounds workable, however getting large enough batteries sounds loopy. I’d swap loco each hour – cost – discharge – cost once more. Nevertheless it’s solely a single-track rail line. Somebody can flesh out the elevation distinction — it wouldn’t be nice.”

I’m certain the engineers at FFI have labored out the problems with elevation. And now Williams is offering the battery know-how. The trials will present what works, and issues can then be ironed out.

Apparently, the concept has been round for a while. One reader cited the Milwaukee Railroad experiment circa 1900 … “when the brakes have been utilized or the prepare travelled down a slope, the engine really returned electrical energy to the grid. Regenerative braking and related energy returns helped the engines pay for themselves. In some mountain ranges, if timed accurately, a heavy downhill prepare might really regenerate sufficient electrical energy to the grid to energy one other prepare passing it uphill. Thus, each trains would journey in a minuet of seemingly energy-free movement.”

For FFI and Australia, the longer term seems electrical, clear, and worthwhile. I’m certain the kangaroos will admire the cleaner air!